Category Archives: Science

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Science

Neanderthals Were More Alike Us Than We Think

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During the past year we’ve learned a lot about our closest primate relatives, the Neanderthals. For example we discovered the fact that they had long childhoods^, which is an indicator of intelligence (in the sense that childhood is time allowed for the brain to mature). We also learned about their social habits, most interestingly the fact that they seemed to have intimate, consensual relationships^ with members of Homo Sapiens (the two species co-existed on Earth for a long period of time).

This article puts it quite nicely. Humans didn’t outsmart Neanderthals, we just outlasted them:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/11/01/humans-didnt-outsmart-the-neanderthals-we-just-outlasted-them^

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Science

Stars Are Born in Pairs

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Did our Sun have a companion star some long, long time ago? According to new research, it seems like all stars are born in pairs. The scientists believe that the Sun’s companion (called Nemesis) has departed our cosmic neighborhood not long after the Sun formed:

https://phys.org/news/2017-06-evidence-stars-born-pairs.html^

This is quite the statement! I would say that it’s about the same level of magnitude as claiming that the Earth is not flat or that it rotates around a star. It really changes the way we have thought about solar system formation and will impact our estimations regarding planets able to support life. That’s because planets orbiting close binaries may experience severe weather swings while planets orbiting wide binaries would suffer from increased chances of asteroid bombardment.

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Science

Let’s Give Mars a Rest

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I am happy to announce that there is a fair to good possibility that seeding life on Mars may be much more difficult than previously thought. In a recent study, an extensive analysis of the chemical elements present on the planet’s surface (particularly in the regolith^) has shown that Martian soil might very well be outright poisonous for life:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/toxic-compounds-may-sterilize-martian-soil/^

So why am I happy because of this “bad news”? Because it’s not bad at all. I believe that given the current state of our society and civilization, Mars is too costly and too early an investment to make. Mars is not going to be easy to colonize in the next decades. Before we go about colonizing Mars, I believe we should do our homework. And I’m not talking only about the technology to shield us from the radiation in space, but also about our own society. A species that is still governed by what I can only call “uncontrolled survivalistic behavior” is not ready for the responsibility of being the shepherd of a new ecosystem.

I can’t agree with this “let’s start colonizing other planets” fad. Eric Mack has a very good point when he says that “this notion that Mars or the Moon is our salvation because the end of the world is nigh is really silly”. If we’re so good at destroying ecosystems, perhaps we should consider fixing this problem before we go off trying to pollute other worlds.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2017/05/03/stephen-hawking-mars-colony-moon-space-elon-musk/#7117bf826537^

The second page of the article above brings a very good point: “Let’s just run through the scenarios: rising sea levels, famine, epidemics, ecological collapse… If all those came to pass, even all at the same time, Earth would still be more habitable than anywhere else in our solar system. Really, you can’t undersell the value of a working magnetic field and an atmosphere, even one with a little too much carbon dioxide in it”:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2017/05/03/stephen-hawking-mars-colony-moon-space-elon-musk/2/#761a6189d1c5^

As a child, I was eager to read anything there was available about Mars. It was “my favorite planet”. Perhaps two decades of increasingly boring news about “water found on Mars” made me a bit allergic to our obsessive interest in the planet.

Lately, things shifted into overdrive as various corporations started to jump on the “colonization” bandwagon. I guess it’s pretty good PR to say you’re going to build a colony on Mars or the Moon, but as the adage says “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/02173-GivingMarsARest-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’Let’s Give Mars a Rest’ desc=’Seeding life on Mars may be much more difficult than previously thought. Before we go about colonizing Mars, we should do our homework.’]

Science

How Pregnancy Changes the Brain

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Almost any woman withbaby can tell you that they feel that their mind works differently than before. I always attributed this to the fact that during fetal development, the brain has to adapt to an increased amount of work. It’s all the extra that comes from regulating the operation of all the additional bodily functions that are required by the development of a new human being. After birth, the brain has to adjust once again, dealing with the extremely complex social dynamics that are involved in having a new human being around in a group – and the larger the group, the more variables the brain will have to keep track of.

A recent neuroimaging study has found pronounced differences in the physical structure of women’s brains during fetal development and afterwards:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/12/19/pregnancy-changes-the-brain-for-as-long-as-two-years/?utm_term=.824fa427caec^

The fact that these changes occur shouldn’t come as a surprise at all. It’s our body working at its finest, adapting in wonderful ways to the tasks that it has to undertake. I’m happy that scientists have went through the effort to understand more about this important period in a woman’s life and about the changes that occur. Now we have one more reason to be in awe of our body’s amazing complexity.

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China Builds World’s Largest Radio Telescope

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Guess who was in the science & technology news lately? Yes, it’s China again. Back in September they were putting the finishing touches towards finalizing the construction of a mammoth radio telescope that has easily become the world’s largest single-dish such device:

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/world-s-largest-radio-telescope-will-search-dark-matter-listen-aliens^

It sure seems like China is on a roll lately. This is the fourth technology-related article I write about the country in the past few months. And I’m not even trying. Now let’s see what the Chinese will spy with their little dish.

References & further reading:

The Elevated Bus That Rides above the Traffic^

China Invests in Quantum Cryptography and Not a Moment Too Late^

China’s Awesome Robotics Challenge^

 [ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/01184-ChinaRadiotelescope-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’China Builds World’s Largest Radio Telescope’ desc=’The country finalized the construction of a mammoth radio telescope that easily became the world's largest single-dish such device.’]

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China’s Awesome Robotics Challenge

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It’s called RoboMasters and it’s more important than it may seem. At first sight it could be classified as a nerdy game show. It is much, much more than that. The article below (and the video it contains) will beautifully demonstrate:

http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/27/13059144/dji-robomasters-robot-drone-battle-video-frank-wang-interview^

Robotics company DJI has been very smart in how it organized the game show. It’s a beautiful way to attract talent and reward the dedication of China’s students. I feel that this can become a long term commitment, a championship, and could turn out as one of the world’s leading benchmarks in robotics.

This has seriously impressed me. I’m seeing a fascinating amount of innovation and initiative arising from China in the past few years. The country is on the rise in a deeper, more meaningful way than in the “manufacturing powerhouse” decades.

My only worry regarding creating a thinking robot that can defend its base against all attackers is… well… think about it. Despite the scary scenarios that the thought may invite, in fact, I don’t believe artificial intelligence will arise as soon as others think. However, I do think that in a couple of decades it will become increasingly difficult to differentiate between a human and a robot when it comes to certain disciplines. Combat is one of these disciplines. You don’t want this sort of AI in the hands of terrorists.

We’re strolling into uncertain territory. I wish that AI researchers will be careful with all their programming in the coming decades. I wish they will keep ethics in mind and be aware that AI shouldn’t be thought of as some sort of servant, but as a partner. The desire to control and dominate will lead to nothing good.

For now, we could say it’s mostly advanced remote controlled machines fighting in the RoboMasters arena. But sooner or later we might have something that is not that much different from ourselves there, with all the ethical implications this will entail.

Related: more robotic innovation from Asia: here’s Japan’s sweating robot^.

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/01139-RoboMastersChina-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’China's Awesome Robotics Challenge’ desc=’It's called RoboMasters and it's more important than it may seem. It is much more than a game show.’]

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Connection Between Ultrasound, Autism and Genetic Disorders?

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A recent study has found a possible connection between the severity of autism symptoms in children and ultrasound scans during the first trimester of pregnancy. Apparently, the worsening of symptoms occurs only when certain genetic disorders are involved. But here’s the thing: if ultrasound does have an effect, it means that it affects any fetus, regardless if there are symptoms or not. Check out the article:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160901152140.htm^

Today, we believe that the fetus cannot hear ultrasound. Even so, we’re still talking here about a high frequency vibration which is propagated through the cells of the body in order to be picked up by a receiver. But what if during the ear’s development, the frequencies range it can pick up changes? Even without this study, I was always squeamish about subjecting an unborn being to what is, in my view, a breach of environment.

Don’t get me wrong, ultrasound scans have saved and improved many lives, allowing parents and doctors to be prepared for certain complications. What I’m saying is that ultrasound shouldn’t be abused. There are mothers who perform the procedure for more than ten times during a pregnancy. In Sweden, they only recommend a single appointment, but in many other countries, for example in the South-East of Europe, an echography is made at almost every doctor visit.

During this technology revolution that we’re going through, I think it’s essential to remind ourselves that our methods are still quite primitive in many regards. We should second-guess our practices and always strive to infringe as little as possible upon our bodies. Our cells are sensitive to all sorts of stimuli, and the high frequency vibration of ultrasound might not exactly be indicated for a being whose brain is in early development. It is my opinion that we should invest in finding new methods of diagnostic that are even less intrusive.

Later update: here’s an even more comprehensive article about ultrasound pros and cons: http://www.mamanatural.com/baby-ultrasound/^

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CRISPR. Designer Babies on the Way?

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It was bound to happen sooner or later. CRISPR^, the acronym associated with a major breakthrough in genetic engineering has just brought us much closer to being able to perform arbitrary changes in living organisms. This is important because it may bring us closer to finding cures for thousands of diseases, create anti-aging treatments and even change features in our unborn children.

Below, you will find more information along with an easy to understand video about bioengineering and a future the use of CRISPR might create.

http://www.sciencealert.com/this-video-explains-perfectly-why-crispr-really-will-change-humanity-forever

I found the video to be a bit on the wishful thinking side. Some years ago we thought very highly about mapping the human genome but the results were seriously below optimists’ expectations. While CRISPR is definitely a step forward in our knowledge about the building blocks* of life, using this knowledge is much more complex than a video-cartoon would like to illustrate.

I sometimes feel that these videos bank on our wishful thinking. Even worse, they tend to play down the serious ethical concerns resulting from some of the proposed advances (they claim that we already perform pre-selection of fetuses so why not go further? To me, that’s like saying that using a nuclear bomb is fine if we already used a pistol). Will a poor family in Africa afford to genetically improve their children? Also, let’s not forget that our medicine is still quite primitive and life is not actually made of “building blocks”. It’s all much more complex than that.

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China Invests in Quantum Cryptography and Not a Moment Too Late

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In the past years, a steady stream of revelations has shown the extent at which governments spy on us. This shocked nobody in the know. We’ve suspected it all along. When it comes to nation-states, however, it’s a different story. Countries don’t like it when other nations are snooping around in their backyard. Enter quantum cryptography^.

Edward Snowden along with WikiLeaks and other organizations have exposed parts of America’s cyber-espionage program. Now, we finally see some of the rewards coming from those revelations. China is moving towards ensuring secure and private communications for itself and, I suspect in the near future, for any entity that pays a hefty fee. Large corporations will definitely be interested in having access to a spy-proof communications network:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37091833^

Well played China, well played!

Update 2016-09-21: important new developments in quantum teleportation will undoubtedly pave the way for secure communication: http://phys.org/news/2016-09-quantum-internet-teleport-particle-kilometres.html^

[ax_meta lnimgurl=’http://mentatul.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/01030-ChinaQuantumSatellite-Thumb.jpg’ lnimgw=’250′ lnimgh=’250′ title=’China Invests in Quantum Cryptography and Not a Moment Too Late’ desc=’China is moving towards ensuring secure and private communications for itself and, I suspect in the near future, for any entity that pays a hefty fee.’]

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Yet Another Battery Technology Discovery to Forget

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Rejoice, for scientists have accidentally found a way to prolong battery life with up to 400%:

http://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-accidentally-made-batteries-that-last-400-times-longer^

Now rejoice less, because in the past decade we’ve learned about at least twenty such discoveries. Not a single one made it to the market yet. I don’t know if this is some sort of commercial strategy or if these discoveries are just very difficult to implement for mass production and thus, unfeasible.

Our frustration with battery technology has been simmering for many years, which is why it is probably quite easy for any University to obtain funding for addressing this concern. Perhaps this is the reason why these “discoveries” keep popping up – the researchers need to publish something to justify their work and the press is eager to disseminate it because we all want to charge our devices faster and have them last longer on a single charge.

I wish they’d finally bring at least a minor improvement to market, because energy storage technology has been advancing at a snail’s pace for many decades now. The only major advancement was the switch to lithium and that happened a long time ago (even though it’s true that lithium technology has progressed a lot). For now, I’ll just forget I read about this recent discovery and get back to being resigned regarding this entire affair.

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